Symbolism in ‘Bold Girls’
Peach fabric
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- The fabric is a way for Nora to cover up what is wrong with her life – it
is her escape device.
- She believes that if she covers things up in her life, then she doesn’t
need to face the truth. The peach polyester symbolises her escape from
everyday life, and her attempts to get it dominate her mind over everything else.
She is obsessed with her home and decorating. She feels that if her home looks good
then she looks good and her life will be good. She does worry about how others see
her and her family. Her advice to a neighbour who is having a tough time is to
decorate her house, as if this will solve her problems.
She is constantly decorating her house, moaning about soldiers stepping on her
flowers or reminiscing about her lovely bamboo suite. Nora escapes through
domesticity. By renovating her home and by constantly redecorating she distracts
herself from her reality. Her desire for the peach polyester symbolises her desire for
escape. The fact that she is going to get this is what keeps her going. However, when
it is destroyed, her “escape” is denied.
“He’s lost my remnant, Marie. He’s lost it…I’ll never find a colour like that again.” Once
she finds out that it is gone she is devastated. Her reaction seems over the top but we
know that the material represents so much more to her – it is her escape device. Her
means of hiding away from the harsh reality of her life.
We see the extent to which she wants to avoid the truth as she is willing to get into
debt for more fabric.
Michael’s Picture
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Marie escapes reality by remembering the quality of her married life fondly. This is
symbolised by the huge picture of Michael which dominates her living space. "There is
a small picture of the Virgin on one wall, a large grainy blow-up photo of a smiling
young man on the other”.
The picture is larger than the Virgin Mary which shows the
emphasis is placed on Michael for worship. She views him as a
god or idol.
Her view of him is romanticised and Marie wants to believe her
own version of reality. This is despite there being hints later from
her that she knows this is not the case.
Discovering the truth about Michael and his affairs, destroys
Marie’s artificial reality. She is no longer able to comfort herself with her memories of
her ‘perfect’ marriage. “She wrenches the knife and the picture off the startled Deirdre
and smashed and slashed Michael's picture with swift, efficient destructiveness.” Marie
destroys the picture which is a symbol of Michael's immense influence on her.
Perhaps in some way, she is now free. When Marie uses the knife to destroy
Michael’s picture it shows the destructive nature of the truth. Her illusions of Michael
have been destroyed by the truth and so it is apt that she uses Deirdre’s knife (which
represents the truth) to destroy the perfect image that has dominated her life.
The Birds
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Feeding the birds. As birds have connotation of freedom and escape, it is clear that
they symbolise Marie’s desire to flee from the truth. On the final page, she reveals
that she admires the resourcefulness of smaller birds. They are the model by which
she lives her life.
Marie feeds the birds, which for her symbolise her desire to escape her life. She
identifies with the birds when she says at the very end: “I
like the common wee birds … it’s easy to build a great wee
nest when you’ve a whole forest to fly in, but you’d need to
be something special to build one around the Falls.” Marie
feels that she, like the common wee birds, has made the best
life she could for herself in difficult circumstances.
The Knife
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The knife symbolises the truth.
Deirdre has the knife and believes that the truth can be found by inflicting fear or
threats. It’s the only way she knows how to get the truth. She has grown up
surrounded by the violence of the troubles as well as violence in her own home. She
sees violence as the only answer.
“I need a knife. A wee blade of my own…A wee bit of hard truth you could hold in your
hand and point where you liked”. In her role as a catalyst, she forces the women to
face up to the truth which causes a great deal of conflict.
When Deirdre finds one and destroys Nora’s peach polyester, she sets in motion a
series of events which lead to the truth being revealed.
When Marie uses the knife to destroy Michael’s picture it shows the
destructive nature of the truth.